Car-fender.



PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908.

J. M. SMITH.

GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1907.

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No. 889,862. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908. J. M. SMITH.

CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1907.

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unirnn snares PATENT orrion.

JOSEPH M. SMITH, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS,

TO WORCESTER RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR-PORATION.

CAR-FENDER.

Application filed June 10, 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrn M. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at l/Vorcester, in the county of WVorcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful OarFender, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a car fender, the principal objects being toprovide means where by when the fender is properly set for operation itmay be swung very easily to effect ively accomplish the desired resultto provide means whereby the frame which operates to pick up objects infront of the car will be resiliently held in position, preferably by thereceiving net itself; to provide an improved form of releasing devicefor this frame; to provide improved means for supporting the frame andnet; and in general to improve the construction of fenders in such amanner that they will occupy very little space when folded up and willbe absolutely sure in operation, and to provide a construction wherebythe fender will operate as such even after it has acted to throw aperson or object into the net.

Reference is to,be had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate apreferred form of the invention and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car showing a fender on the front andrear, one being set for operation and the other folded up. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the fender on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a plan ofthe same. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the catch for holding the framein set position, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of a catch for holding itin folded position.

In its preferred form the invention comprises a support on which thefending frame is pivotally mounted. This fending frame when set foroperation extends down substantially to the ground so as to beautomatically operated to swing upwardly when it comes in contact withan object and in this position it extends upwardly beyond its pivot andis held by a spring catch or the like.

The receiving net is made resilient and engages the fending frame insuch a manner that when the catch is released the net itself willoperate as a spring to force the frame upwardly about its pivot andthrow the object into the net.

The catch is of such a nature that when slightly and then itautomatically releases it so that the spring not can operate to turn thefending frame upwardly. This part of the device can be constructed inthis manner even when some other kind of a spring than the net is usedto turn the frame. In fact the device is preferably constructed with anadditional spring for assisting in turning the fending frame.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the drawings. Itwill be seen that upon the end of the car is mounted a bracket 10 or thelike on which is pivotally mounted a support 11 preferably comprising apair of side bars connected by the tie rods 12 'or the like. This frameis adapted to support the rest of the apparatus at any desired heightfrom the ground and is held up in any convenient manner as by means of apair of chains 13 which pass throughlinks 14 on the support and are heldin adjusted positions by means of lid-links 15. It will be seen that bythe application of the id-links to any desired one of the links of thechain the height of the end of the support can be regulated at will, butobviously any other desired adjustable connection can be used at thispoint.

Near the outer ends the support is provided with a shaft 16 or the likewhich extends from one side of the same to the other. Secured to thisshaft and turning therewith as on a pivot is a fending frame 20. 'Thisframe extends below the shaft when set in the position shown in Fig. 1at the front of the car and also has a rearwardly' extending projection21. In the position mentioned this projection 21 extends upwardly and areceiving net 22 with which the device is provided, is connected withthis frame so as to extend over the top of the projection 21.

the device is set it holds it until it is sprung This receiving net ispreferably resilient and when the fending frame is set in the positionshown, the net is stretched so that the net itself exerts a force on theprojection 21 to swing the frame up into the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 2. It will be observed that the resiliency of the netoperates on the fending frame only during the first part of its swingingmotion, as shown in Fig. 2, for subsequently the resiliency of the netwill no longer be exerted on the frame.

In order to provide means for constantly exerting tension on the frameto assist the A shown in full lines in Fig. 2.

0 eration of the net and even to take the p ace of it when the resilientnet is not used,

have provided the shaft 16 with a pair of coiled springs 23, one on eachend. Each of these springs is preferably contained in a box 24 securedon the support; one end of the spring being connected with the shaft andthe other with a bolt 25. They operate in a well-known manner.

It is necessary to provide means whereby the fending frame 20 can bekept in position In order to accomplish this the shaft is provided witha wheel 26 thereon having a pair of notches 27 and 28. On the support ismounted a pawl 29 and a spring 30 is employed to normally force the pawlout of position for engagement in the notches 27 and 28. Now, it will beobserved that when the frame 20 is turned down to such position that thepawl engages any one of these notches, the springs 22 and 23 willnormally tend to turn the shaft in the other direction so as to bringthe edge of the notch against the edge of the pawl and this will holdthe parts in position. But if the fending frame meets any obstruction itwill tend to turn the shaftslightly in the opposite direction and at theslightest turn the friction between the ed e of the notch and the end ofthe pawl wil disappear so that the spring 30 will be free to force thepawl outwardly. This action will take place immediately and then therecoil of the springs 23 and net 22 will operate the fender. By havingtwo notches 27 and 28, the fender can be set in' two different positionsso as to avoid adjusting the height of the support 11. I The relativeresiliency of the springs is such that when the device is tripped inthis way all of the springs are active and the object with which thefender comes in contact with will be thrown into the net, the fendingframe taking the upper position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

When it is desired to fold up the fender as is indicated at the rear ofthe car shown in Fig. 1, the pawl 29 is disengaged and the fender turnedupwardly as is indicated, a hook 31 on the car engaging the shaft 16. Ifafter the fender is folded up in this way, it is desired to turn it downto operative position, the frame 20 is fixed to the support in such amanner that it will not move down into operative position until that maybe desired. In

order to accomplish this, the shaft 16 is pro-' vided with another wheel32, having two notches 33 for receiving a lug 34 on a spring 35 which iscarried by the support. This spring projects to the front of the supportso t at it may easily be tripped to allow the frame to be moved down tooperative position.

It is to be observed that when the fender frame has been operated tothrow an object into the net, it assumes the vertical position shown indotted lines in Fig. 2 and the end 21 extends downwardly acting as afender, so

that the car cannot pass over another object on the track. It is held inthis position by the lug 34 engaging the second notch '33 in the wheel32. on an axis intermediate of its ends an important additional safetydevice is provided whereby, if for any reason the person or object onthe track is not thrown into the net, or if there are others in the way,they will not be run over. The lower end of the fender frame preferablyis provided with a cushion 40.

It will be understood that although the combination of the spring net 22with the end springs 23 is an important part of this invention, eitherone may be used without the other and certain advantages of theinvention will still be secured. Furthermore, they may be used singly orwith other forms of trip mechanism shown in Fig. 4 and this tripmechanism may be used with other forms of springs. The manner ofsupporting and adjusting the height of the fender frame is also capableof many variations.

Although I have illustrated and described a particular form of theinvention, I am aware that many modifications may be made by a personskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention asexpressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to theparticular form shown, but

What I do claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. In a carfender, the combination of a swinging frame, resilient means forswinging the frame about a pivot in one direction, movable means forpreventing the frame from so swinging, and resilient means fordisengaging the movable means when the frame is to be swung in thereverse direction.

2. In a car fender, the combination of a shaft, a fending frame mountedthereon, resilient means for swinging the frame and shaft about the axisof the shaft, a wheel mounted on the shaft having a notch therein, apawl for engaging said notch, and a spring normally tending to force thepawl out of the notch.

3. In a car fender, the combination of a support, a shaft journaledthereon, a fending frame carried by the shaft, a spring secured to saidshaft and wound around it, the opposite end of the spring beingconnected with the support, said spring tending to rotate the shaft, awheel on the shaft having a plurality of notches therein, a pawl pivotedon the support for engaging said notches, and a spring mounted on thesupport and adapted to force said pawl out of the notches to enable thefirst named spring to rotate the shaft.

4. In a car fender, the combination of a swinging frame, a resilient netconnected with said frame and tending to swing the Thus by mounting theframe frame about its pivot in one direction, a wheel havin a notch inits periphery and movable wit the frame, a pawl engaging said notch, anda spring for forcing the pawl out of the notch.

5. In a fender, the combination of a swing ing frame, a resilient netconnected with the frame and tending to swing the frame about its pivotin one direction, movable means for preventing the frame from soswinging, and resilient means for disengaging the movable means when theframe is to be swung in the reverse direction.

6. In a car fender, the combination of a shaft, a fending frame mountedthereon at a point intermediate of its ends, means for normally holdingthe shaft in a certain position, and a resilient net connected with thefront of said frame and extending over the part projecting upwardly fromthe shaft so as normally to tend to swing the lower part of said frameupwardly about its pivot.

7. In a car fender, the combination of a swinging fender frame, and anet having one end secured and the other end passing over said fenderframe and tending to swing the same upwardly.

8. In a car fender, the combination ofa movable fender frame, and aresilient receiving net connected with the frame to move it upwardly byits recoil.

9. Ina car fender, the combination of a support, a shaft ournaledthereon, a fender frame secured to said shaft and extending up wardlytherefrom when in operative position, and a resilient net having one endsecured in stationary position and the other end passing over theupwardly extending end of said fender frame and secured to the same at apoint only with which it is pivoted, whereby said net will tend to swingthe frame upwardly about its axis.

10. In a car fender, the combination of a support, a shaft j ournaledthereon, a fender frame secured to the shaft and extending in bothdirections therefrom, resilient net passing over the top of said fenderframe and secured thereto at a point near the shaft, and aspring coiledabout the end. of said shaft, said spring and net both tending to swingthe fender frame upwardly.

11. In a car fender, the combination of a support, a shaft ournaledthereon, a fender frame secured to the shaft and extending in bothdirections therefrom, a resilient net passing over the top of saidfender frame and secured thereto at a point near the shaft, a springcoiled about the end of said shaft, said spring and net both tending toswing the fender frame upwardly, and readily adj ustable means forholding the fender frame against the resiliency of said springs.

12. In a car fender, the combination of a support, a shaft journaledthereon, a fender frame secured to the shaft and extending in bothdirections therefrom, a resilient net passing over the top of saidfender frame and secured thereto at a point near the shaft, a

spring coiled about the end of said shaft, said spring and net bothtending to swing the fender frame upwardly, said fender frame beingfoldable into position nearly parallel with said support, a wheelmounted on said shaft, and a spring having means for holding said wheeland shaft in folded position.

13. In a car fender, the combination of a bracket adapted to be fixed toa car, a support pivoted to said bracket, adjustable means for holdingsaid support, a shaft journaled on said support, a fender frame securedto said shaft, resilient means for swinging said fender frame upwardly,a pair of wheels on said shaft each having notches, a spring having alug for engaging one of said notches to hold the fender frame in foldedposition, and a pawl for engaging a notch in the other wheel to hold theframe in set position.

14. In a car fender, the combination of a support, a swinging fenderframe mounted thereon and projecting above its point of support, and anet engaging the upwardly projecting part for assisting in swinging saidframe to cast an object into the net and to turn the frame so as toproject said upwardly projecting portion of the frame into substantiallyvertical position below the support, whereby it will act as a fenderafter the frame is operated. Y

15. A car fender comprising a pivoted frame projecting to differentdistances in opposite directions from its point of pivotal support andadapted to swing when operated into such position that the upper andshorter part of the frame will project substantially vertically belowthe pivotal support.

16. A car fender comprising a swinging frame projecting in oppositedirections from its point of pivotal support and adapted to swing, whenoperated, into such position that the upper part of the frame willproject substantially vertically below the point of pivotal support andact as a fender and having means for looking it in inverted position.

17. A car fender having a fending frame adapted to be set to pick upobjects in front of the same and having means fixed with respect to saidfending frame and extending toward the ground to act as a fender aftersaid frame has been operated.

18. A car fender comprising a frame mounted to swing through an arc ofsubstantially 180 degrees on an axis located between its ends and havingmeans for looking it in inverted position.

19. A car fender comprising a swinging frame projecting beyond its pointof pivotal support a distance less than the distance of the end of theframe from said support, said projecting part constituting a lever bywhich the swinging of the frame may be assisted and being adapted tooccupy a position below the point of pivotal support when the fender isoperated.

20 A car fender comprising a frame mounted to swing on an axis locatedbetween its ends but nearer one end than the other, and means forstopping the swinging motion of said frame in such position that 10 theshorter end of the frame will assume a vertical position when the fenderhas been operated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH M. SMITH.

Witnesses:

ALBERT E. FAY, C. FoRREsT WESSON.

